3 Angels players to blame for series loss to Rangers
After a thrilling series sweep in St. Louis, the Los Angeles Angels came home with a ton of momentum, and a lot to prove. They were playing their biggest series in what felt like a long time against a division rival. The goal was simple. Win the series, and you're in first place. Facing a Rangers team at home with no Jacob deGrom and no Corey Seager felt like the time for the Angels to show the world they could accomplish that goal. Unfortunately, they fell flat and lost the series.
Had it not been for that remarkable comeback in the opener of this series, the Angels would've gotten swept. I love the fight the team showed at the end of that game to steal it, but the Rangers felt like the better team for a large majority of the series.
Losing two of three isn't the end of the world. The Angels are 19-16 right now and are two games back of Texas for first in the West. They have Houston coming to town and have a chance to right the wrong by winning that series. It's still frustrating that the Angels simply did not play well this weekend against the Rangers. Three players in particular I feel are to blame for that.
1) LA Angels player to blame for series loss: Jose Suarez
You all knew this was coming. After he showed such positive signs pitching really well his last time out in Milwaukee, Jose Suarez turned back into, well, Jose Suarez. The Angels left-hander was handed the ball with a chance to win a big series at home against an AL West opponent. Unfortunately, Suarez reminded us all why Angels fans were calling for him to be removed from the rotation, if not DFA'd entirely.
Suarez knew the Angels had virtually no bullpen available. Chase Silseth was available, but the Angels want to use him in short spurts, not as a long reliever. The only other options were Chris Devenski, Carlos Estevez, and Matt Moore, guys they want to use in high-leverage moments. With that in mind, it would've been nice for Suarez to give length, even if it wasn't the most quality length.
Unfortunately, Suarez only lasted 2.2 innings and was not good whatsoever. After getting out of a jam in the first, Anthony Rendon handed him a 3-0 lead with his first home run of the season. Suarez would wind up giving those three runs right back before the Angels could even get up to bat again.
After Martin Perez threw a scoreless second for Texas, Suarez walks the leadoff man, which is never good. After retiring the next two batters, Suarez allows back-to-back singles and a three-run homer. The man who hit the three-run homer, Josh H. Smith, is a career .189 hitter and had three home runs in 262 at-bats entering yesterday's game. To give up that home run to that guy is... crushing.
The Angels made things interesting and their offense showed up, but Suarez's ineffectiveness and inability to give the Angels any sort of length forced them to have Chase Silseth throw 72 pitches and Chris Devenski to throw 37. Devenski won't be available tomorrow and Silseth might not be available for the entire Houston series because of this.
You know it's bad when Jake Lamb looks better than you on the mound. Suarez left the game with a trainer after the Smith home run. Hopefully he's okay, but this could be another one of those conveniently timed IL stints to get a guy off the roster who doesn't deserve to be here. I would be shocked if Suarez made his next scheduled start, which isn't even for a while as the Angels can use a five-man rotation for a little while.
2) LA Angels player to blame for series loss: Reid Detmers
Was Reid Detmers awful? No. Was Reid Detmers good? Also no. The Angels left-hander continues to frustrate fans as his inconsistencies shined on Saturday night.
He got off to such a good start, striking out six batters in his first three innings of work. He had some trouble with two outs in each inning, but didn't allow a run. The Angels offense didn't do anything against Nathan Eovaldi in those innings, or the rest of the night, but Detmers was matching him zero for zero.
The fourth inning then came and Detmers looked like a different pitcher. He allowed three runs and had to work incredibly hard just to keep them at three runs. He had 89 pitches through four innings which is obviously way, way too many.
After a leadoff walk in the fifth, Detmers was done. Not only did he put his team in a 3-0 hole against a really solid arm, he gave his team zero length. This continues to be an issue for Angels starting pitchers and is why we see situations like the one we saw on Sunday when most of the bullpen was unavailable.
Ryan Tepera threw two innings. Andrew Wantz threw two innings. Tyler Anderson's inability to give length forced the Angels to use Jaime Barria for four innings. None of these guys were available on Sunday, and Tucker Davidson's awful inning knocked him out for that game as well.
Detmers isn't on here for the three runs allowed as much as he is for the lack of length. I can make the argument that if the Angels had a rested bullpen, they win Sunday's game. They pull Suarez earlier, and have legitimate MLB pitchers like Wantz ready to give the two scoreless frames he gave on Saturday.
Detmers is a huge piece for this team. He's young, but had such a great finish to last season and has the stuff to be a really good pitcher. He hasn't put it together and can't seem to figure out a way to navigate the middle innings. He couldn't avoid the big inning once again, and not only allowed the runs that ended up being the decider, but forced the Angels to use their bullpen for five innings the day after being asked for another five.
The Angels need more from their young left-hander.
3) LA Angels player to blame for series loss: Tucker Davidson
It might be a little harsh to put Tucker Davidson on this list, but after watching the game on Friday, it's hard to not wonder what would've happened if the game wasn't put out of reach.
Saturday's loss was not on Tucker Davidson. Let me say that point blank. Reid Detmers was not good and the offense did not show up against Nathan Eovaldi. The Angels were down 3-0 and lacked any sort of energy. While that was the case, they weren't exactly showing much life on Friday night either before stealing a game against an awful Rangers bullpen. The Rangers had Jonathan Hernandez, a guy the Angels scored against the night before, warming up for a potential save opportunity in the ninth. Maybe I'm too optimistic but I would've given the Angels a puncher's chance to come back and maybe force extra innings or even make Texas sweat it a bit.
Unfortunately, Tucker Davidson didn't give them that chance. I personally have no idea why Davidson even pitched the ninth inning when the Angels knew Jose Suarez was going the day after and Jaime Barria, the other long man, wouldn't be available, but that's who Phil Nevin called upon. It was Davidson's inning to try and keep it 3-0.
At first, it looked like Davidson would be fine. He allowed a one-out double to Travis Jankowski but then got the next batter, Marcus Semien, to ground out. Davidson had two of the three outs he needed to keep this a three-run game.
After that, the order of events went wild pitch, single, stolen base, single, wild pitch, single, double, single, single, walk. Davidson had thrown two wild pitches, allowed a stolen base, walked a batter, allowed five singles and a double before being pulled for Brett Phillips. What was once a 3-0 lead ended with a 10-1 final score. Davidson wound up throwing 38 pitches which made him unavailable for Sunday's game, and the Angels could've really used his length then.
Again, I have no idea if the Angels would've come back or not. The odds say no, but they did it twice this past week. Davidson not only blew that opportunity, but he also threw so many pitches which made him unavailable for a game the Halos actually needed him for.